


War Story

by DiLithiumDragon



Series: Nuzlocke Challenges [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: Angst, Bitterness, Epistolary, Game Plot Retelling, M/M, Nuzlocke Challenge, Other, Sad Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiLithiumDragon/pseuds/DiLithiumDragon
Summary: After nearly 3 years of waiting, Blue has finally contacted his older sister, Green. He relates to her the true tale of his and Red's journey through Kanto to quell some pesky rumours that have cropped up and aims to explain why he won't just go apologise to Red all ready.
Relationships: Female Pokedex Holder Blue | Green & Ookido Green | Blue Oak, Ookido Green | Blue Oak & Ookido Nanami | Daisy Oak, Ookido Green | Blue Oak & Red, Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Series: Nuzlocke Challenges [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845232
Kudos: 4





	1. Letter 1: From Blue to Green

**Author's Note:**

> [cross-posted with the Nuzlocke forums](https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/nuzlocke_forum/finished-war-story-a-red-epistolary-run-t31831.html)  
> (hopefully I can post this here, I just want to archive my Nuzlockes better...)
> 
> Blue is a bitter, tired Gym Leader by this point recounting his journey through the Kanto region about his not-really-ex-boyfriend Red to his sister, the new Professor Oak of Pallet Town.  
> (Green pretty much takes the place of Daisy in this universe, so.)  
> I think that's all the explanation I need to give. As such... enjoy?

Dear Green,

Hey, you. It's me, your stupid little brother. Remember? It's only been a couple of years, how could you possibly forget, right? Anyway, thought I'd send this to you for old time's sake and to inform you that no, I'm not dead, so please take the missing persons report off my head, thank you. I get enough trouble as it all ready is without being constantly teased for that. I'm not returning home anytime soon, though, that's just the way it's gotta be. Sorry about that.

I did want to let you know what's happening, to stave off all the other rumours I get teased about and accused of.  
No, I'm not going to become some new Giovanni and lead the infamous Team Rocket in a new takeover of the Kanto or Johto region. I hate Team Rocket and everything they've ever done.  
No, Red hasn't gone missing. Not exactly. I know where he is and why he left. Telling anyone else about it wouldn't bring him back down, they'd have to defeat him first, so I might as well keep it to myself.  
Yes, I'm still sore about him defeating me at the League so soundly and thus taking away the Champion title from me. I can definitely hold a grudge, you know that. I don't know how long exactly I'm going to hold this against him, but it's going to be a while because he's a jerk and, as you've said many a time before, I'm an idiot when it comes to this.

I know, I know. Red and I used to be such good friends. I still think we are in a way, but also I hate him and would punch his face if I saw it again. If that makes any sense. It could be a mutual feeling, it could just be my hopelessness. Either way, I knew it would come to this point the moment we both got called over to Gramps' lab that time.

Woah, I'm getting way ahead of myself. How much do you actually know? You weren't there when we got our Pokemon from Gramps, and it's a pretty long story from there. Has it really been three whole years since then? Arceus, the whole Rocket fiasco and connecting all the Gyms was really that long ago?

Post'll take a while, they're still trying to get everything back in order. Yes, still. But hey, the connection lines are back up all the way out to the League, so they'll get it sorted out soon enough. Tell Gramps not to worry about having to go through the Johto postal service to get any messages out to the Leaders.

Send your response to the return address on this envelope. Thanks, sorry I can't come home.

-Blue


	2. Letter 2: Boulder Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the beginning to Badge 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow actually short chapters who'd have thought I was capable of such a thing  
> Blue was a fun write because he's Bitter and Pining at the same time ;w; ;;

Green,

Sorry, sorry. I had some new duties as a Trainer thrust upon me after the League, so I really couldn't come home to stay even if I wanted to. I'll make sure to come visit at some point, since you guys have Tabuu and all and I haven't seen him in a while.  
Tiny would probably enjoy seeing Bulba all grown up. Unfortunately, I don't think he'd want to go unless Red and Raiden showed up as well, and I know for a fact that prick's not coming around anytime soon.

Are you sure about wanting to know the whole story? It's going to take a lot of letters to get you the whole account. Our travels took nearly a whole year and all. Also, my memory's not as good as yours, so I'll have to rely on my Pokemon's. And yes, I'll make sure to send these letters through the PC system since the postal services have apparently imploded. But as long as you're sure, I'll start from that day in the lab.

You remember that day, right? Gramps decided that Red and I were ready to become adults with adult responsibilities. You gave us both a map and wished us well on our way through the region. Jeez, it feels like it was so long ago. Tiny was a Squirtle back then, I wasn't as jaded as I am now. Amazing what all can change in the space of a year. Three years, now, but who's counting?  
Well, Gramps gave us the mission of making a routine check of all the Gyms in Kanto to see how the Gym Leaders were holding up and to reconnect them with the League and all that. Everything was still pretty hectic even though the war had ended some time ago. Kanto always seems to be the slowest at keeping up with the curve. Anyway, Red and I decided to have a practice battle with our new mates. For fun.

Red had a Charmander, Raiden, I had Tiny. I still think Red chose the Charmander on purpose to make things harder for himself and to trick me into taking Tiny as a type advantage. Can't be sure, though. Raiden won, because of course Red would win in a battle, we called it even and headed out to Route 1. Gramps thought it'd be a challenge, but Red and I knew our way around after all the times we'd sneak out there to play when Gramps wasn't watching.

Red found a Rattata there and I caught a Pidgey. It was fun being able to recruit Pokemon as teammates finally. Red called the Rattata Fang. She really lived up to that name since she chewed up my shoes when we'd stopped to have some lunch. I remember I had to get new ones as soon as we got to the shop in Viridian. Red apologised and paid for them, of course. My Pidgey got all ruffled about it, but I told him to save it for the next time we had a friendly match. He agreed, and I called him Sawyer after that. He's a great Pidgeot now, but that's beside the point.

I know what you're thinking, sis. "But Blue, Red stopped talking after we got the news about our parents' deaths." Well, remember how he and I could just communicate really well without him needing to say a word? Remember that? Also, Gramps gave Red his Pokedex prototypes to help with that. The thing could do voice commands.  
Although, Red didn't really need it. Red's always had a gift with Pokemon, could always understand them right away. It's taken me forever to learn to talk to Pokemon like that and yet Red's been able to do that since we were kids. Shows you just how much of a freak he is, I guess.

Anyway. Viridian and new shoes. Fang wasn't sorry about it at all, I could see it in her smug little expression. Naturally, Red thought that was hilarious. Sawyer didn't and nearly tried to attack Fang, but luckily the Mart guy recognised me as Oak's grandkid and I had to head back to Pallet to give Gramps his parcel. When I got back, Sawyer had cooled off some and Red had a Nidoran girl in his possession, Shelley. I joked about him being a ladies' man and that he should have gotten a female starter. He took it well. His team, not so much.

Fang sprang for Sawyer, who responded eagerly, while Tiny faced off with Shelley. Raiden hung back a moment before joining in and wrestling around with Tiny. They might've been the only ones fighting for the fun of it. Sawyer swears even now that he was serious and I have no doubts that Fang was as well. Red and I tried for several minutes to get them to stop, resorting to shoving them back in their Poke Balls in the end. Red laughed about it later, I paid for our dinner.

We spent the night there at the Viridian PokeCentre. I woke up in the middle of the night and swore I heard Red talking to his Pokemon, but brushed it off as a dream and went back to sleep. It's been a really, really long time since I've heard Red speak, so I don't know if his voice has changed since then.

Anyway, we got some information from an old man that the way to the League was blocked off to everyone without the eight Gym Badges, no exceptions whatsoever. Red and I decided from then on that it was a race to see who could get them all and make it to the League first.

With no other way to go, we headed into Viridian Forest. I caught a Caterpie and named her Bugs, Red caught a Weedle and named her Dame. They both evolved right quick into a Butterfree and a Beedrill, respectively. I mentioned to Red about how the Pewter City Gym was primarily Rock type based, which might have been why you guys suddenly received both Dame and Bugs. I honestly sent Bugs just to keep Dame company (and because Red insisted).  
Are they even still with you and Gramps, or did they decide to wander off and rejoin the forest? I hear some Pokemon tend to do that once their Trainers have been absent for a long enough time. Something about a fault in the Poke Ball coding? I'll have to ask that Elm guy about it sometime, he's got the most published papers about friendship values and all.

Red said he needed to train some more and hung around in Viridian Forest. All the Bug Catchers there were perplexed with how Red didn't even give his Pokemon any verbal orders. Because no normal Trainer is that good, right? Either way, it meant I had the chance to challenge Brock first. With Tiny by my side, it wasn't all that much of a challenge, but at the same time Tiny respected his opponents and let them feel like they had done a good enough job. He's still the most sensible Water type I've ever met.

I warned Brock about his next challenger and told him not to take Red lightly, then went out to find said next challenger. Around that time, there was a strange buzz going around Pewter about some people calling themselves Team Rocket being up in Mt. Moon and how they'd been stealing Pokemon from Trainers and hurting wild Pokemon badly enough to warrant concern. A lot of people were scared.

Red was over by the museum, surprise, surprise, and letting Raiden, Shelley, and Fang check out all the cool exhibits and such. I don't think I told him about the Team Rocket thing, I don't remember it that well. Red and I went back to the Gym. I sat back to watch. Red beat Brock's Geodude with Fang and used Shelley and Raiden to take down the Onix. (So sue me, I don't remember what Brock named his Pokemon from his beginner team. Why should I?) Red praised his Pokemon for the good job and accepted the Boulder Badge. We managed to communicate our purpose to Brock and he agreed to keep an ear out for when we made it to the next Gyms.

Red was still smiling when we left. I offered to take him out to celebrate some, since we'd both won on our first tries, and we spent the rest of the day in Pewter. Right, I told him about Team Rocket before we went to bed and we agreed to travel through Mt. Moon together as some sort of insurance against the threat of Team Rocket.

That's all I have room and time for now. More later.

-Blue


	3. Letter 3: Cascade Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun with glitches, part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> due to my love of the Colosseum games, I've developed this idea for my Nuzlocke stories that a Trainer can talk to their Pokemon once the Pokemon has opened its heart to them sufficiently.  
> being a glitch and a Pokemon kid, Red needs no such prerequisite and this makes Blue mad.

Green,

All right, all right, more of the story, you've made your point. I'm getting the rest of my team to help me with some of the details since they remember it better than I do. Isn't that kinda funny?  
I left off at Pewter, right?

Red and I headed out for Mt. Moon as cautiously as we could. The Team Rocket thing and all. Tiny and Raiden both evolved into Wartortle and Charmeleon, respectively, and promised us both to do their best to protect us and our teams. They made a really awesome combo, I have to admit. They also enjoyed wrestling around with each other whenever Red and I had to stop for a battle they weren't being used in or just for a break. Great bodyguards indeed. Red and I joked to each other about feeling so safe with them on the lookout.

On the way to Mt. Moon, Red found a Spearow and invited her to join his team. She, of course, agreed and Red told me her name was Jack. You know how rare it is for a Trainer to get a Pokemon's name from them instead of slapping a nickname onto them? Yeah, this is Red we're talking about. Pokemon trust him right away, even if they're wild. Most of my team still trusts him even though we haven't seen him for a while, and those that don't exactly trust him are still willing to talk to him. I'm not sure if that's admirable or pathetic.

Either way, Jack and Fang were great battling buddies right away, both of them kinda cut from the same cloth. High Attack, low Defence, and fast as all heck. Also both mischievous and raring for battles left and right. Red's never cared about the whole stats study. He loves Pokemon, most of all his team. Said they were his closest friends. Next to me, of course. What a fucking liar.

That aside, we went into Mt. Moon and let Raiden lead us through the dark. Tiny walked beside us as added protection. That, and he actually refused to get put away in his Poke Ball while Raiden was out doing the defending.

Red and I made a lot of jokes at each other as we walked to try and lighten the atmosphere. One being that, when we stumbled upon a TM for Water Gun, Red decided to let Fang learn it. Thing is, it actually worked. That one still gets me. Red kept bringing that one up and laughing about it periodically, so it got old real fast. Soon enough, though, we heard a whip strike the ground and found ourselves facing off with a Rocket grunt. The whip was what really struck a nerve with Red. Raiden and Tiny took the guy's team down and Red actually punched him in the face. I know, Red, the most passive of all people when it comes to human relations, punched this Rocket guy. Right in the face. It was pretty magnificent.

He and I then battled our way through the rest of the grunt's cohorts until we made it to the exit. Some nerd insisted that we take his fossils as thanks for accidentally saving him from getting recruited into the Rockets. Well. It might have been an accident on my part. Not so sure on Red's part. Red got a Dome fossil, I got some Old amber. Red was really interested in mine, so I offered to trade with him at some point. Knowing how Gramps' research was advancing so quickly and all, I had a hunch that someone out there would be able to make these fossils Pokemon again. Red agreed right away.

Outside Mt. Moon on the other half of Route 4, we ran into a different Rattata. He had a pretty bad gash on his side and was making all sorts of frantic squeaks. Red and I rushed the rest of the way to Cerulean in order to get him to the Pokemon Centre. His name was Jerry and he'd had a bad encounter with some Ekans trying to eat him for lunch after escaping some Meowth on Route 5. Red suggested he become a part of my team in order to get stronger. He was really enthusiastic about that idea, tried jumping out of my arms even though he was still wounded. That freaked me out and I'm glad we got him to the Pokemon Centre in time.

Red went back to Mt. Moon for a bit while I stayed with Jerry to make sure he'd be all right. The nurse accepted him as my Pokemon, so there was really no question about it. Tiny liked Jerry right away while Sawyer bugged me about going to the Gym. I gave in and went to take on Misty. Sawyer evolved into a Pidgeotto right before we reached her and helped Tiny pull through with a victory. Misty gave us the Cascade Badge as I explained to her what we were doing. She admitted to not really making any attempt to keep in contact with the League since she was busy with other things, but agreed to talk to Brock and start getting the communication line moving again. We left the Gym with Sawyer and Tiny bragging to each other about their win and Jerry squeaking along excitedly.

We met back up with Red after that and headed for Route 24. Red was aiming for Nugget Bridge in order to get some more training in. He did have mostly types with disadvantages to a Water Gym, what with Raiden, Shelley, and his new catch. She was a Geodude by the name of Denimt. She got along well with Jack and Fang since they were all fighters for sure. Red asked me to help him get her up to her final evolution, to which I agreed as long as he'd help me if I caught a Pokemon who also needed help.

I still don't understand how that works. Is it some kind of energy thing Pokemon can only gather from being handled by a different Trainer, even if it's just for a few moments? Is it just a mystery of Pokemon? There's probably a professor studying that somewhere, isn't there? I know that Elm guy is also studying evolution. Maybe Gramps should ask about it. Get back to me on that if you ever figure it out, okay? Thanks.

Anyway, Red pointed out to me that he had an almost full team while I still only had three Pokemon. It was mostly my bad luck with making catches, but also my habit of forgetting to look for something. I had a hard time remembering the catching laws back then, lay off. Either way, Red and I pulverised all the Trainers on Nugget Bridge and won ourselves a Nugget each. Red went to sell his immediately and bought way too many Poke Balls. He wouldn't answer me about it when I asked. If he had, I probably wouldn't have believed him in the first place.

I continued on my own for a bit and found an Abra. I managed to catch him and named him Kablam. Yes, I know, but it seemed fitting at the time. Still does, in my opinion. After that, Tiny and I went to check out the cottage by the cape. It was (still is) marked on the maps you gave us as a sea cottage, but it's up in the mountains and not even close to the sea. Why is it marked on the map, sis? Answer me this, sis.  
Red caught up with us then before I could knock on the door. Guess what he'd needed all those Poke Balls for? A freaking Mew. I'd never seen one even in all of Gramps' research papers. I asked where and how Red found her, but Red's response was to smile and walk into the cottage. What an asshole. I know my questions were stupid considering this is Red and all, but still. I followed after the shrieking started.

Bill was the one shrieking. You know, Bill? The Pokemaniac who runs the storage systems in Kanto and Johto? The one who always gets hate mail from Bebe and Lannett? (All right, you probably didn't know about the hate mail, but whatever.) Turned out, Bill had been visiting his grandfather in Kanto and working on something to do with the Pokemon storage system and had always wanted to see a Mew. Red having brought one made his week. No, it made his life. I still hear from some Trainers about how Bill goes on about it.

He was so overjoyed that he gave me an Eevee and Red two tickets to the party for the SS Anne (which was docked in the bay at Vermillion City for its bi-annual celebration). Bill implied to Red (I think) that he could take a pretty girl with him to the party. I laughed about that, but Red, being ever the comedian, shook his head and motioned to me instead. Like I would be his date. Bill laughed at that and I punched Red in the arm.

You know, it's not entirely my fault. Red was such an idiot.

After we left, Maria (the Mew's name was Maria, by the way) and Red found an Abra and recruited it for Red's team. The Abra, Barry, was a cute one. Since Red had a full team now (disregarding Maria), he decided we should have a friendly battle. I swear, every single one of our battles was just Red testing me. But my team was for it, so we battled. Red beat me by a long shot, of course, though Jerry held his own for a while against Fang. She took a shine to him and took him under her guidance. I think. Jerry spent a lot of time hanging out with Fang, Jack, and Denimt whenever they were out together.

Red was concerned about Kablam's name and talked with Kablam about it for a bit, then came to the conclusion that it was fine since Kablam was happy with it. It'll be the day when there's a bigger Pokemon sympathiser than Red. He asked me what name I gave the Eevee and I hadn't even thought about it yet. I started suggesting names to her (yes, to appease Red) and she was sold on Ivy two names in. I let her ride on my shoulder since she wanted to. It's still her favourite perch.

Maria spoke to me as well as Red. That shocked me into not being able to say much to her. Did I even say anything? I don't remember. (Tiny says he and Sawyer asked her a bunch of questions, but that I apparently stood gawking too long to say anything meaningful.) She praised Red for his ability with Pokemon, of course, then complimented me for my willingness to keep my Pokemon happy. She had to leave on some urgent business or something, but promised to keep in contact with Red before she left. And Red let her go.  
To be fair, I wouldn't have asked her to stay, either. Not just to be some lab experiment or trophy for Gramps. Even I, in all of my prejudice, can understand that.

Red also caught an Oddish called Dimitri and switched him for Denimt in order to take on Misty's Gym. I went to watch and cheer him on again. Fang evolved into a Raticate, Jack became a Fearow, and Dimitri evolved into a Gloom one Trainer before Red faced off with Misty. (Shelley had evolved into a Nidorina while Red went searching for Maria, but I was informed that Shelley didn't want to battle any of the Water types.)

Red, of course, won his Cascade Badge and we went out to celebrate by evolving our Abras into Kadabras. I'm completely serious. We also had a practice battle between them to help them get used to their evolved forms and Barry won over Kablam. Red's Pokemon were amazingly tough. Probably still are.  
Yeah, I'm a bit envious of his skill to raise his Pokemon even now. It takes years of training to get your Pokemon to learn nonverbal commands, normally. Well, a lot of training and a lot of trust. And yet Red's always had a knack for it. I wonder if anyone else's as good as he is at it.

Oh, I should mention that anytime I mention when my Pokemon have something to say, it was usually Red who translated for me or them informing me as I write this. Because I was rubbish at understanding anything they said up until we got into Saffron, I think. Don't quote me on that, I can't remember the exacts.  
Also, that's two Gyms and two badges all ready? Wow, it took longer to get those than I thought. The first few steps are the hardest, right? Hah, I wish that were really true.

-Blue


	4. Letter 4: Thunder Badge, Rainbow Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date and the rumblings of Rockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Jerry, the first Rattata casualty of this run. ;w;

Green,

Okay, seriously? I told you I'm not a part of Team Rocket. I'd never stoop to that level no matter how much of a vendetta I've got against Red. Team Rocket is evil scum and I'm glad Red took them down. I'm sure the Pokemon of the world were also glad as hell.

But anyway. Back to the story.

Red got those tickets for the SS Anne. I put that in the last letter, right? He also joked about me being his "date" to the thing. I guess he really wasn't kidding, because as we made our way over to Vermilion City, he was adamant that we both attend the party and that we dress nice. He's such a weirdo. But you know me. I got all cleaned up for it (and even rented out some dress shoes for the occasion!) and what happens? Red nearly misses the party because he got caught up at the Pokemon Fan Club. I didn't let him forget about that for weeks.

He did show up. At the tail end of the party. We put on a show (which obviously translates to an open battle) as their grand finale, too. It was pretty fun. Red still pretty much handed my ass to me. My team made a good run for it at least. By this point, I suspected Red was taking it easy on us since none of my Pokemon ever ended up with any serious injuries. I had to ask him about it and planned on doing it after our battle ended, but then the SS Anne lit up some fireworks into the sky and that caught both of our attention pretty quick.

Remember how Gramps always talked about the stunning sunsets over in Vermilion? His descriptions didn't do them any justice.

Then the SS Anne sailed off into the dusk. Red and I watched it from the pier until it was out of sight. I took those damn shoes off to have my feet in the water. Red was happy to join in on that.

Sometime after that, Red got up and went straight for the Gym to scope it out and see if we were ready. I followed after him and found I was ready with Jerry, now a Raticate, Kablam, and Tiny. Turns out Water types know how to take Electric types down as long as they can strike hard and fast. Someone should make a note of that.

Red gave us congratulations on the new Thunder Badge, I explained the whole thing about reattaching the communication lines between Gym Leaders to Surge, then Red beckoned me over to the front of the Gym. To where the statues sat. You know, the ones that get winning Trainers' names carved into them almost immediately after they win. He pulled out his fishing rod and sunk it in.

I would have called him a moron if he hadn't pulled out a Magikarp almost immediately. He gave me the Magikarp, called her Dana. As if it was a normal thing to just fish out a Pokemon from a Gym Statue. But I took her. Said thanks and everything. Red laughed and left the Gym. Off to train, I think. He was good, considering he had Shelley, Denimt, and Raiden as backup with Dig. But man, if that still isn't one of the weirdest things he's ever pulled off. And this is Red. He does all sorts of strange things.

I think I heard Gramps talking to his mum about it one time (it was the whole two hundred and fifty-one keys fiasco, I think) and he mentioned that Red gets it from his dad. But who really knows? I'm the one left to deal with all of it.

When he came back, Shelley was a Nidoqueen and wiped the floor with Surge. Raiden helped a little bit. Surge wasn't so happy, but at the same time he seemed ecstatic. Guess the guy lived to battle. He is an Unovian. League rules sure are weird.

Red pretty much lead the way after that. Back to Cerulean and then through Route 9. The map said it was towards the Rock Tunnel and Power Plant, but Red never even checked the map. I asked him how he knew, he told me the Pokemon relayed to him that the way to Lavender Town from Vermilion was blocked off by a Snorlax. Showed how much I knew.

Red, Fang, and Jerry thought it would be fun if I taught Jerry Bubblebeam, so I gave in and did that. Tiny and Dana didn't mind since they were looking forward to other available attacks they could get. Red and I tag-teamed the Trainers along the way to the Rock Tunnel, except for this one Hiker. Guy had a Graveler and Jerry went out to take care of it. But the guy made the Graveler use Self-Destruct. When the dust cleared, Jerry had a hole right through him and there was no way he could still be alive.

I don't remember what happened afterwards well enough. Jerry should have had that one. But Self-Destruct is impossible, especially at this level. So I hit the guy hard. The next thing I knew, Red was holding me back and making sure I didn't beat the guy to a bloody pulp. Or something. It took a while, and a lot of work on Red's part to hold me back, before I was good with kicking the guy one last time and trying to get Jerry over to the Pokemon Centre outside the Rock Tunnel.

Jerry died. That's something they don't teach you in the schools. Something no Trainer ever mentions.

The nurse at the Centre apologised for my loss, Red helped me get to Lavender Town. We buried Jerry there in the tower. Got him a nice spot and everything. Red held my hand through it all and tried to be encouraging. Even gave a few supportive speeches to me through his Pokedex voice command function. But after a while, I told him to keep moving so I could have some time alone for a few days. He understood that.

Yeah, I know. Red always knew exactly what to do in those situations I landed myself in. The bastard.

While Red checked to see if the way to Saffron was open yet, I trained up my whole team. Kablam and Tiny took the loss as hard as I did, Sawyer tried his best to help me cheer up. It helped a little to know my team was with me at the least. Dana evolved into a Gyarados and Ivy evolved into something the Pokedex refused to identify. A black, less fluffy sort of Eevee with glowing yellow rings and red eyes. (Yes, I know you know by now that she evolved into an Umbreon, but I had no idea what they looked like back then.) I guessed correctly that meant it was night time and that I should probably stop to get something to eat. She seemed a bit skittish with me until I told her she was beautiful, then she seemed relieved. She also started talking to me then.

I couldn't actually use Ivy in battle anymore since I couldn't see what her stats or attacks were anymore (yeah, the Pokedex bugged out that much), so she became my walking companion for the time. We ran into Red as he was coming back in to Lavender. He handed me a Poke Ball. Inside was a female Growlithe. He told me I could name her. Nothing really came to mind, so I asked him to tell me what her name was. Growly. Sounded good to me. She got accepted into the team and I was good to travel again.

It occurs to me just now that Red really only gave me female Pokemon. Does this say something about us? Was that ladies' man comment a bit too harsh? Whatever, guess I can't ask him about it anymore.

The way to Saffron was still closed off. Rocket, I told Red. He agreed. Lavender Tower's higher levels were inaccessible due to the rampant Ghost types who were even possessing some of the channelers. As such, Celadon was our best bet. Red was prepared for the Gym there since he taught Fang Ice Beam and had Raiden and Jack. I told him he was crazy. He didn't care.

While he was challenging Erika (getting into that Gym was fun, let me tell you), I took a look around the city. The department store was huge, Ivy and Tiny enjoyed looking around, and I bought something for Red as a piss-poor attempt at thanks for holding me together.

People were whispering about the Game Corner. That it was Rocket run, that the Pokemon given as prizes were being trafficked and tortured. That was all I needed to hear. By this point I resolved to shut those bastards down no matter what it took. I went into the Game Corner, beat up some grunt, found the secret entrance into their hideout.

I was going to do this no matter what. That's what I kept telling myself.

Red actually crashed into me once I'd entered their hideout. We made quite the spectacle for our Pokemon to laugh at, apparently, since Tiny and them are still chuckling about it. Once I'd gotten back up to my feet and Red was similarly not on the floor, he told me I couldn't go in this alone. That he had to come with me for this. Which was understandable since anyone who hurt Pokemon was going to be on Red's black list.

We scoured the entire base before managing to get the lift key off a grunt. Then it was a simple trip down to the last floor to find the man behind it all. Yup, this was our first encounter with Giovanni himself. I challenged him, and Red stepped back to let me take him on.

Growly and Sawyer handled the guy's Kangaskhan while Tiny took out the rest. Giovanni didn't even flinch, He called me a man after his own image, much more predictable than his own son. I called him a prick and a murderer. He laughed. The lights went out. Red sent out Raiden and I told Growly to help, but no dice. Giovanni was gone.

I considered it a failure, but Red found the Silph Scope on Giovanni's desk and mentioned that we could get to the top of Lavender Tower now to see why the ghosts were being so difficult. I made some retort about how Red could just go up and ask them regardless since he was such a whiz with Pokemon. That seemed to upset him, so I took it back and apologised. I was in a bad mood from what happened. He accepted my apology, and the gift I got him at the Department Store (a leaf stone to use on Dimitri, so you don't ask me about it later), then noted I hadn't gotten the Rainbow Badge yet. When I was all ready to bolt and head back to Lavender Tower, too.

We got out of there and Red showed me the Eevee he rescued from the testing labs. Told me the Eevee's name was Dei. Ivy really liked Dei and wanted to hang out with him. I had no problem with that. Red was really interested that Ivy had evolved into an Umbreon of all things. I managed to register her manually into my Pokedex and that impressed Red a little bit. (He, of course, all ready had her in his Pokedex. He even later had Dei. It did it automatically, I know he didn't do it manually. This is Red, remember?) I let her and Tiny stay with Red and his team while I went into Erika's Gym. I offered for Red to come and watch, but he got all fidgety and embarrassed.

Figures he'd get freaked out by a Gym full of girls. You'd like it a lot, Green. And Bulba would fit right in.

Either way, Growly and Sawyer took them all out with only a little help from Kablam. We got the Rainbow Badge and I'm pretty sure Erika was either trying to get me to join her legion of women or just really, really likes tea parties. I told her about the communication thing, but she said Red had explained it to her. Not sure how I felt about that, either.

Red congratulated me on my victory after I got out of the Gym and gave Tiny and Ivy's Poke Balls back to me. Dei wasn't an Eevee anymore, either. He was an Espeon, as Red had to explain to me. I told him we should tell Gramps about Dei and Ivy since they evolved into Pokemon found in the Johto region. Most Johto Pokemon didn't leave their region during the war, and Gramps did a good job at region-locking the whole of Kanto, so region mixing like this was pretty phenomenal. Red refused, said Ivy and Dei weren't going to become test subjects, not even for Gramps.

It was honestly scary just how in tune he was with Pokemon. I find myself wondering at times if he's truly human. I know for a fact he doesn't consider himself a human.

We got back to Lavender Tower and fought our way up through the possessed channelers. I managed to catch a Gastly who thought she'd be clever and sneak up on Red from behind. Red thanked me, wanted to keep her. I let him have her, he named her Barbara and told her he'd have a chat with her once we were done finding out what Team Rocket wanted out of Lavender.

Right before we got to the stairs leading to the top floor, a Marowak materialised out of nowhere and attacked us. Shelley and Tiny blocked her from getting to Red and me, but Red told them to stop. Went over and talked with the Marowak to find out what was wrong. He came back after a while and looked livid. Relayed to me and our Pokemon that this Marowak had to watch as they killed her son right in front of her, then couldn't do anything when they killed her next. She became a ghost out of rage and couldn't get up to the top floor due to there being some kind of block on spirits from entering.

All this just so Team Rocket could make a profit selling their skulls. Team Rocket is sick. They'll go to any length as long as they can torture Pokemon, and you think I wanted to be a part of that? How screwed up do you think I am? Don't actually answer that.

Red wasted no time in heading up the stairs to the top floor and kicking the door down. Tiny, Growly, and I were with him the whole way. We chased away the grunts up there (and probably into the waiting jaws of that Marowak ghost), then noticed that they had a hostage up there with them. An old man named Mister Fuji.

Recognise the name? Yeah, he's the most famous guy for being the first person in known record to be trusted by any and all Pokemon. He was grateful for us helping him, but explained he'd gone with Rocket of his own free will in order to try to soothe the angry spirits of the tower. Not that it helped much, but at least he tried, right? Red suggested that we hold a funeral for the Marowak, her son and the other Pokemon that were killed by Team Rocket. I think Mister Fuji understood without me translating, but I continued anyway for complete clarity.

We stayed there a few more days to oversee the proceedings and offer our own prayers to the departed Pokemon. During the down time, Red used my gift to evolve Dimitri into a Vileplume. He and Mister Fuji ended up sitting and talking together a lot. They both have a gift.

Something nagged at the back of my mind, so I left before Red. Yes, I snuck away in the night, shut up. I had to hurry and get the rest of the Gyms reconnected, find out why the League wasn't making any attempt at all to stop Team Rocket. Besides, I thought Red might need some time to himself since he was closed off to me for those days we stayed in Lavender. I don't know, being a good friend gets confusing at times.

That's all for now.

-Blue

p.s. Ruben's leaving? Man. I guess it'd be good for him and his mum to get away from the high concentration of Pokemon and all, but Akai and Aoi are going to miss him. Those three were tight. Give them and the other kids my regards, okay? Thanks.


	5. Interlude: and Response

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First and only interlude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote ALL of Green's responses initially, but they didn't gel well with the pacing of the story, so they were left out. Except for this one. Because Blue is a little brat.  
> This is also the only reason why I feel like I had to include Green in the characters, because she has such a presence in my mind that it'd be weird to leave her out. (and thus, the headache of tagging a composite character)

Green,

Are you talking about Kristal? She's twelve now, right? Why would they let her go out there on her own League challenge at such a young age? Am I missing something here? Did the League rules get changed so that younger kids can go, or are they making an exception for her or something? I know that Professor Elm needs a Trainer to help with his research, but with the laws as they are, I don't think Kristal's going to be able to help much if she's taking the League challenge as well.

And besides that, isn't there a threat of the Rocket rumours looming about? How'd Kristal's mum allow her to leave with that kind of thing about? She's twelve, you'd think her mum would be a bit more protective of her. How's her little brother going to react? (She has a little brother, right? I think I heard Gramps talking to Elm about it once or something. Maybe. Could be my imagination.)

Anyway, reply soon and answer my damn questions for once. No story today, I'm too tired to write anything.

-Blue

X

Dear Blue,

Yes, it's Kristal. Yes, she is only twelve, but Grandpa and Professor Elm decided that they need the extra research hand in studying this whole thing of why we haven't ever really investigated Pokemon death after the war. The League rules never changed, by the way. The earliest a Trainer can start their adventure is ten. Did you ever read the fine print? I wouldn't know why anyone would want to travel around at the age of ten, but there you have it. Probably has something to do with our old history.

With the laws as they are, Kristal is perfect to go out and help Professor Elm and Grandpa with research. She sends her Pokemon over to her little brother Kin (yes, you were right about that) and travels around with the first six she caught. That's what I heard, at least. Reminds you a bit of Red, doesn't it?

I heard about the Rocket rumours, too, and they appear to be true so far. Kristal and some other kid are working to take them down, though. Just like you and Red did. Or at least, we know Red did, I'm learning about you helping him out just now. To think that the stories could get a detail like that so incorrect. It makes me and Bulba so mad!

I've heard that Kristal's father is a researcher in Professor Elm's lab, so that might be why her mum allowed her to leave. I'm sure they'll make Kin wait his turn until he's a more appropriate age. But with things going as they are, Ruben might only be twelve or thirteen when he moves over to Hoenn with his mother. That's if things go well, Ruben's father is still volleying for the Leader position that's open over there.

I answered your damn questions, are you happy?

Your loving sister,  
Green


	6. Letter 5: Soul Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're at the halfway point. Doing great so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red's aware of his inherent glitchiness, at least. (unlike a certain other protag I could name...)  
> I wonder how the Gym Leader succession actually works in the Pokemon universe, since Koga leaves his daughter in charge of the Fuchsia City Gym and Blue gets to take over Viridian City Gym. I guess it's all not worth thinking too hard about... =w= ;;

Green,

Huh. So that's how it is. At least I know now. (Thanks for answering my damn questions.)

All right, continuing on. Four badges down, four to go and an entire corporation of evil slime bags to take out. We're at the halfway point. I'd just gotten to the part where I left Red so he could have some space, right? Yeah, that went over well, let me tell you.

Turns out, the way south from Lavender was blocked off by a Snorlax. I didn't want to deal with it, so I went back to Celedon and through the west exit there to cycling road. A bunch of bikers noticed me and decided I looked weak. Tiny and I showed them differently, for the most part. I got beat up pretty badly and freaked out a lot of my team. Especially Ivy and Tiny. I tried to reassure them that I'd be fine, but they rushed me over to the next town anyway.

Tiny evolved into a Blastoise and Sawyer evolved into a Pidgeot from all those battles. That was nice. Dana was really happy for Tiny and got all cuddly, which was a first for me and him (I mean, a cuddly Gyarados? What's up with that?). Once in Fuchsia, my team forced me to make a stop at the Centre and the nurse there helped me get patched up. She had green hair and the way she fussed was really hilarious. You had to have been there.

I didn't want to stay sitting for long. After she was done with the fussing, I headed over to the Safari Zone to check that out. Caught a male Exeggcute, named him Wheatley, and a female Dratini, named her Siren. She was a really lucky catch and pretty friendly for a Dratini. Wheatley was crazy and came that way, but he fit well into the team fold. We got the Surf prize and then our game was up.

Who should I find right as I exited but Red?  
He freaked out a bit over my scrapes and bandaged stuff, but I assured him I was fine. Still, he insisted that I take a break for lunch, so we found a small café outside the Safari Zone to eat and allow our Pokemon some romp time. From all my experiences, Pokemon seem to love having time to roughhouse with one another and socialise. I guess that's the biggest common factor between humans and Pokemon.

I showed Red Wheatley and Siren after we'd eaten. He took a special interest in Siren, so I gave her to him. He was pleased about that. He'd convinced the Snorlax that'd been blocking the way to move along, like I knew he would. Then I asked why our Pokemon never really hurt each other, like that Graveler had done to Jerry. Red took a while to think about it before replying, actually speaking with his voice to me.

He said that, ever since his dad had left, he'd known about Pokemon death and his own inherent weirdness with the world. That he specifically directed his Pokemon to take it easy on every opponent, including me, so that no accidents could happen. Implying accidents had happened to him before. And boy, did I really not understand until later what he'd meant by that.

After that, Red clammed up and didn't want to speak anymore. He was nervous about facing Koga, so I told him I'd go first. To give him enough time to prepare. We traded to evolve Kablam, Denimt, and Barry, then I left for the Gym. Wheatley and Kablam were able to defeat Koga while Tiny and Sawyer handled all the other Psychic types in the Gym.  
I'm still waiting on an explanation for why there aren't more Poison types used in Koga's Gym, but then I've got no room to really criticise. Managing a Gym can be more difficult than Trainers think.

We got the Soul Badge from Koga and told him about fixing the communication lines, which he seemed embarrassed about having let gotten to this point. When we left, Red was still training. I heard some talk around town about the state of Saffron and Silph Co. That Rockets had overrun the entire City, company and all. So I snuck past the guards and went into Saffron City. It was indeed infested with Rockets and I, in my hot-headed and rash decision making, decided to make these guys pay. Right then and there.

I didn't tell Red ahead of time that I'd be doing this. I was determined to handle this on my own. That was the biggest mistake I made during the entire journey.

-Blue


	7. Letter 6: Marsh Badge, Volcano Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a constant back and forth we have. This is our war story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just gonna copy/paste my original notes here, since they're still relevant...
> 
> "This was my favourite part to plan out/think about how it would be done. I'm sure you can guess why.  
> Also this is where the name of the thing really comes into play.  
> You'd think Sabrina would've been able to help out, but if Blue was there, it kinda makes sense? I tried, at least."

Green,

Yes, I'm pretty sure those bikers beat me up because of that. But let's not talk about that, this letter's about my dumbass mistake.

I went to Silph Co., right? And I went without telling Red or anyone else. I wanted to take out Team Rocket and I wanted to do it on my own. They'd killed Pokemon for their own selfish profit. I wouldn't forgive them ever.

Tiny bashed in the guard at the front doors. Sawyer and Kablam took out the grunts. Dana and Wheatley cleared the way forward. Growly marched by my side every step of the way. We made it to Giovanni and he laughed in our faces. It'd been a trap and I'd walked right into it. I was a real idiot.

He shut off the lights and the room went dark. Before I could get Growly to light the room back up, something hit the back of my neck and knocked me right out of my mind. Felt like I was floating outside of my body in the darkness, like I was waiting to be released from storage or something. And I stayed in that state for a while.

I called out for Red, my team, his Pokemon, you, Gramps, anyone. All I got in return was silence.

I was stuck in that weird limbo state for several days. I only know now because I learned after the fact. But after what felt like ages, I came back into my body from a punch to the face. You can probably all ready guess who it was.

It was Red, standing in front of me, looking like he would be crying if he wasn't so angry. It took me a moment to find my voice and balance on my feet, which was enough time for Red to realise he probably didn't need to punch me again. I asked what happened, how long it had been, if Red had taken down Giovanni yet and if Red was okay. Red didn't want to look at me, he just pointed behind us. Shelley and Denimt were holding Dana down, who was thrashing and didn't look quite right. Red told me that something had been done to make her snap and she'd nearly torn up Raiden and Kablam. That she was unfit for battle any longer and should be released into the wild, away from any further human contact.

Really, that was the worst thing about my rash decision. I'd put Dana into a situation that hurt her beyond repair. I have the scars from this ordeal, too, but Dana. I ruined the rest of her life, her mind.

I managed to get Dana back into her Poke Ball and asked again what happened. Red was hesitant, but finally explained to me that I had attacked him the moment he'd entered the room. That my team had seemed as hell bent as I had on defeating Red (except Tiny, who used Bubble of all things against Barry) and that Dana was enraged and I did nothing about it, so Red had punched me.

When he'd punched me, something had disconnected from my neck. It looked like half of the ring part of a Poke Ball, with more wires and needles to make it attach. Red tried to hand it to me, but I didn't want to touch it. It still had some blood on it and it was unsettling to look at. So Red broke it and trashed it.  
He looked like he had more to say, but didn't. That should have been my first clue.

At that moment, all that was going through my head was that Team Rocket and Giovanni had to be taken down. I tried to run out, but Red caught my arm and suggested I stay back, tend to my weakened Pokemon. Couldn't really argue with that. I took my Pokemon and left the Silph Co. building, headed for the Pokemon Centre.

I heard later that Red crushed Giovanni's team, but Giovanni managed to get away on an escape helicopter. Then the police showed up and questioned him for hours about what had happened. I had to answer a bunch of questions from them, too, though I didn't have much information to offer.

The nurse took Dana and said she'd get put through an intensive recuperation treatment before being released out onto the Lake of Rage in Johto, to be with other Gyarados. She also asked to take a look at my wounds, but I didn't want anyone to see it. I was paranoid about getting controlled again. So I went to bed with Tiny and Growly out.

The next day, I found a note Red had left me. He explained that after I'd left Fuchsia, he was able to defeat Koga and gained his Soul Badge. Since Shelley knew Surf, they went back to Pallet Town to explore the route south of there, to Cinnabar Island. You know, the place where all the Tangela grow. Cinnabar Gym was locked, so Red asked around about it. Along the way, he heard about Rocket and Silph Co., so he dropped what he was doing to head over there and take care of it.  
Jack flew him to Saffron, right over the gates. He tried going to the Fighting Dojo to look for some help, as the Gym had been shut down by Rocket, and found it in the form of a Hitmonchan named Nils. He and Nils scoured the entire Silph Co. building before they found me and I attacked Red. Nils escorted a Lapras out and then battled me. The device Giovanni had used to control me had apparently been hastily modified from a Master Ball that Silph Co. were developing. And Red assured me that he knew I wasn't in my right mind, that it hadn't been me he'd encountered in there.

Still, it felt a lot like he didn't forgive me for whatever had happened between us.

I decided to head for Cinnabar to explore and look for a way into Blaine's Gym. (Man, I still can't believe that volcano erupted and destroyed the whole city last year. Good thing Blaine is a scientist and had everyone evacuated.) I explored the burned down mansion and found a journal in there with information about the war and the bio weapon Kanto created, Mewtwo. There was a key amongst the pages, so I took it to try on the Gym. It opened the doors, simple as that.

Tiny and Kablam defeated Blaine, no problem. Blaine mentioned something about Rocket's downfall not being the last of them. If I'd understood it then, I probably wouldn't have called him a madman so much over the years. Either way, I had the Volcano Badge and all ready had the Marsh and Earth Badges in my possession somehow. I had all eight Badges needed to head for the League.

(I should mention that, while I was on Cinnabar, a scientist handed me a Kabuto, Tabuu. A gift from Red. I gave the scientist the Old Amber and told him to give the Pokemon to Red when he arrived.)

But, instead of heading straight for there, I went to Viridian City to wait for Red. Because I wanted to see Giovanni defeated with my own eyes.

-Blue


	8. Letter 7: Earth Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The closer to the end we get, the angrier Blue becomes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof things really broke down between Red and Blue at the end.

Green,

Geez, it wasn't that bad! The thing healed over and it may have scarred, but it's fine. I finally had a nurse take a look at it and she reassured me that there weren't any lasting issues or stray mechanical bits stuck in there. Don't worry, I'm not that stupid.  
Anyway, back to Red and Giovanni's final battle. The last Badge.

It only took a day for Red to arrive in Viridian with the Volcano Badge and that determined look in his eyes. He didn't seem surprised to see me waiting for him and we went inside the Gym together. Giovanni was inside, standing in the middle of the empty place. I would've lost my temper, but Red beat me to it by sending out his whole team, ready to battle. Giovanni sent out his own team and I got to sit back and watch Red trample Giovanni's team.

Red was the hero, enacting my revenge for me. And I was the dead weight, the one who screwed up the most. Kept him from being his best, a freak.  
Sorry, I'm still really angry about all this. Sorry.

Giovanni lavished praise on Red, tossed him an Earth Badge, then disappeared with the help of a maze of walls rising from the floor, a Gym trap. Red and I tried to get through to find him, believe me, but at the end was just a Poke Ball containing a Rhydon.

I took her onto my team, called her Jade. Red thought I should release her to the wild, but I knew she wanted to come with me. She was as ready to battle as I was.

The maze lowered back into the floor and Red stormed out. I ran after him, asking him to wait, but he threw out Fang to face off with me. He instigated our final battle. And he beat me, as usual, then left me to continue on towards the League. Jade, Wheatley, Kablam, and Sawyer were all furious, wanting to defeat the League right then and there. Tiny and Growly were the only ones who seemed to understand Red's reasons for being so upset.

Even I didn't get it. I just wanted to prove to him that I wasn't a dead weight and that he should recognise me as just as powerful a Trainer as he was. That's a lie, I never was and never will be, but I was blinded by my fury at the time.

You know, I'd like to visit Mt. Silver when I'm not so busy one day. Test out my team's strength again. Maybe I'd be strong enough then.

Anyway. After healing up, I evolved Growly into an Arcanine, Wheatley into an Exeggutor, and trained Jade up into a Rhydon. Sawyer, Tiny, and Kablam were all ready to face the Elite Four. We went through Victory Road and signed up for the next open challenge once we'd made it to the League gates. The halls were empty, but we still had to wait to be called in.

I'd seen Red battling a Moltres inside Victory Road, Denimt out on the front lines. He always had a knack for finding the legendary, rarer Pokemon. And he'd prefer it if he never had to see another human as long as he lived. I'm pretty sure, at least.

-Blue


	9. Letter 8: Elite Four, Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all ends here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Fang, the second Rattata casualty of the run. ;w; ;;; my Raticate have such bad luck...

Dear Green,

The Elite Four are not a part of Team Rocket. Arceus, why is everyone rumoured to be in cahoots with them?  
Also, you tell Red about his mom yourself.

Right. On to the Elite Four.

Since I faced them first, I feel like I had it easier.  
Sawyer and Growly did really well against Lorelei, surprising me, with a little help from Kablam and Tiny. Lorelei didn't like that I'd won using my team members who had disadvantages to her typing, but I'd won and there was nothing else she could do besides let me pass.  
Tiny took down Bruno's Onix, then Sawyer and Kablam tag-teamed the rest, and Wheatley finished off with the last Onix. Bruno never gets frustrated with defeat, he takes it in stride in his poised and silent way. We were allowed through to the next challenge.  
Jade took out Agatha's first Gengar with a bit of trouble, but then her Golbat confused Jade and I switched out to Kablam. Growly took out the Haunter and Jade finished off the Arbok and last Gengar. Agatha praised Gramps for raising me well, I ignored it and moved on. I was on a mission.  
Finally, Lance. Sawyer defeated his Gyarados and his first Dragonair. Growly and Jade tag-teamed his next Dragonair, then Tiny blasted his Aerodactyl out of the way. Kablam and Jade wrestled down his Dragonite and that was it. We'd won. We were the new Champions of the Kanto League.

Lance said he'd call Gramps up about it. The communications line had been fully restored. The job Red and I had set out to do had been finished. But I knew Red would arrive to humiliate me all over again.

Red arrived the next day. As Champion, I had to wait for Red to reach me. Still, I heard about his battles from the rest of the Elite after the fact.  
Red struggled the most against Lorelei, having Shelley, Denimt, Jack, and Raiden to worry about, but he was able to utilise Fang and Barry to win. He moved on immediately after, so his resolve must have matched mine.  
Bruno, as you can imagine, gave him no trouble. He had Barry, Jack, and Shelley, what more could you expect?  
He did have a great battle against Agatha. Both Shelley and Denimt used their Earthquakes wisely while Barry, Fang, and Raiden made good backup.

And then Lance's Gyarados hit Fang with a crit Hydro Pump, bringing Red to a screeching halt.

From what I heard from Lance, Red actually screamed. The shot had killed Fang. Red grew feral and tore apart the rest of Lance's team, nearly killing both Lance's Gyarados and his Aerodactyl. Lance had to quickly leave to attend to them, to make sure they didn't die. And Red stayed there for a while, holding Fang's body and crying.

I was stuck inside the Champion's chambers. I couldn't do anything, didn't know anything. All I knew was that Red would be coming at me without holding back for once. And I was right.

Red slammed open the doors to the Champion's chambers. He looked more dangerous than I'd ever seen him before. He sent out Shelley and I countered with Sawyer.

I tried talking to him, tried telling him that he should at least let me have this, the one achievement I'd won on my own merits, but he remained relentless. Shelley defeated Sawyer, so I sent out Jade next. Shelley took down Jade as well. I sent out Kablam and Shelley slashed him bad enough to draw blood. Growly was next, also defeated by Shelley. Wheatley didn't stand a chance against her, either.

Finally, Tiny went out. Red pulled Shelley back and sent out Jack. Tiny caught her with a Blizzard and Red made a quick switch to Raiden, who took Tiny down with the most brutal fires I'd ever seen. Something about Raiden wasn't quite right, and Red seemed to move in unison with Raiden, but I'd been so soundly defeated that all I could process was the bitterness and anger.

There was a moment where Red and I stared each other down. Then Gramps and Lance barged in to lavish praise on Red. Of course Red was victorious and had won the title of Champion away from me, Red was the special one with the closest bonds to his Pokemon. Of course Red was worthy of praise when all Gramps would say to me was how I just wasn't good enough and needed to work on being a better, kinder Trainer to my team. Of course Red had done nothing wrong when every moment of my life was a mistake and a disappointment.

Red didn't seem to hear them, brushing past them into the commemoration hall. I had to deal with Gramps lecturing me about how Red was so much better than I was and assessing the damage Red had done to my team.

Kablam had died. I called Red a murderer and would have punched Gramps had Lance not stepped in. As a previous holder of the Champion title, the League wanted me to take over the open position of the Viridian City Gym Leader. And I took it.

I didn't see Red after that. Neither did the League. He disappeared, up onto Mt. Silver.

I made sure to get Kablam a good resting place with Jerry in Lavender Town. The renovations on Lavender Tower must be finished by now. Mr. Fuji and I told them it was a bad idea, but we were able to relocate all of the graves safely to the memorial house. Fang's grave is there, too, right next to Kablam and Jerry's.

That's really the end of the story. Take it or leave it. Red'll probably never come back down, so Bulba, Raiden, and Tiny will never see each other again. I'm enjoying my position as the eighth Gym Leader of the Kanto League. I've gotten a fair amount of Trainers, most unable to beat me, but some are good enough to win. One day, I'll battle Akai and Aoi.

I'll probably refuse Kristal's challenge should she make her way over here. I don't need another Pokemon kid to remind me how much I hate Red.  
Whatever. Thanks for waiting so patiently for me to tell you all of this. I'll see you and Gramps again soon, sis.

-Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, Red didn't really Mega his Charizard, this was played on an actual cartridge of the original Red version, but story-wise, it just made sense. I was upset that Fang got killed, so it translated to this.  
> thanks for reading this angst boy's bitterness! Nuzlocke complete! ;w;


End file.
